Telling Them The Truth
by HeroxPartnerfan96
Summary: Thomas decides to tell the rest of the Steam Team about his discovery of Hiro and his plan to help him. An expansion of the scene from Hero of the Rails


**Telling Them The Truth**

Nightfall had arrived over the Island of Sodor and Thomas found himself approaching Tidmouth Sheds, where he could spot the rest of the Steam Team, with the exception of Percy as he had to stay behind at the Steamworks to be repaired, waiting for him. As the sight of the sheds came closer into his view, Thomas showed a content smile as things seemed to be going well for him thus far: Hiro was safe from anyone finding him, Spencer was completely in the dark about what was going on and he and Percy now had a plan figured out on how they were going to help Hiro without alerting anyone's suspicions. _'So far, I'd say everything's under control.'_ Thomas thought to himself. But then his smile quickly faded and became replaced with an expression of uncertainty as he turned his glance down, as he remembered how Spencer nearly cornered him while he was on his way to catch back up with Percy. _'But then again, Spencer probably already figured out that Percy and I are up to something. So how long will it be before he finds out about Hiro…?'_

As this question began to spin around in his mind, along with his worry over what could happen the moment Spencer figured it out, he turned his attention back to the track in front of him and a gasp of shock escaped his lips when he noticed that the rest of the Steam Team weren't the only ones waiting for him; just beside the sheds was a familiar blue car. That could only mean one thing: Sir Topham Hatt was here. Thomas quickly felt an expression of worry cross his face as he was now approaching the turntable and stopped in his tracks once he was on the centre and he could see that Sir Topham Hatt was now approaching him, with that familiar disappointed expression on his face. _'Oh no… he couldn't have found out already…'_ Thomas could quickly feel himself tense up on the rails where he stood and he came close to biting down on his bottom lip. Once Sir Topham Hatt stopped in front of him, with Thomas watching in increasing uncertainty over what he would say, he finally spoke.

"Thomas, I hear Percy was pulling your special instead of delivering the mail. And now Percy's mail cars are missing."

Thomas's anxiety seemed to ease up a bit listening to this, since Sir Topham Hatt made no mention of Hiro and that meant he was still in the clear with the whole situation. After he took a few seconds to allow this to skin in, Thomas breathed a quiet sigh of relief. _'Thank goodness… that means Sir Topham Hatt doesn't know about Hiro. We're still safe…'_ However, this small wave of relief quickly vanished only to be replaced with shame; in the midst of his and Percy's figuring out their plan to help Hiro, they had completely forgotten about picking up Percy's mail cars once they had everything sorted. So now that meant he was getting himself into more trouble, and this was happening because of his intentions to help Hiro out. While he knew the exact reason for Percy's mail cars going missing, he knew there was no way he could share that with Sir Topham Hatt.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't know where Percy's mail cars are. I'll help Percy find them tomorrow." Thomas softly replied. He hated having to lie to Sir Topham Hatt about what was really going on, but right now, it was the only choice he had to keep Hiro safe. This reply seemed to satisfy Sir Topham Hatt, however, as he spoke again.

"That's exactly what you'll do tomorrow, by my order." The firm tone in his voice seemed to resonate across the sheds from top to bottom and all the other engines could hear him. Thomas nearly flinched at the sound of the firmness in Sir Topham Hatt's voice, and he lowered his glance as guilt began to build up inside him; he had just lied to Sir Topham Hatt's face, and that was something he hated himself for having to do. But right now, it seemed like the only option he had if it meant keeping Hiro safe for the time being. As the other engines watched Sir Topham Hatt leave, James was the first to speak up.

"Any louder and the rest of the island will hear him." James sighed, with Emily shooting him an expression of annoyance.

This quickly became the least of the group's worries as they all turned their attention to Thomas; they could tell that there was something strange going on and they wanted to know what it was. Thomas simply remained silent as he could see the other engines keeping their gazes squarely on him, all of them filled with nothing but concern, and he began silently debating with himself over what he should do. _'I know they wouldn't want to be left in the dark about what I'm doing, but… how do I know that they'll help if I tell them about what's going on? About Hiro? Lying to Sir Topham Hatt about it was bad enough... I don't want to do the same thing to them…'_ As these thoughts were running through Thomas's head, the first one to break the silence that hung over the team… was Edward.

"Thomas? Is everything alright?" Edward asked, the tone of his voice filled with care and concern for his adopted son. Thomas could feel his confliction over the situation he was now in become worse over the sound of that question, and who it was coming from. With that look of concern on his face and the amount of care for him visible in his voice, Thomas now felt fully aware that there was no chance he could look Edward in the eyes and tell him a lie; that was something Thomas felt he would never be able to forgive himself for. Not only that, but he needed everyone's help; this was a job that was too big for just him and Percy to do on their own. After a few seconds of silence passed, Thomas quietly took a deep breath and let it out, finally feeling ready to tell the others the truth about his discovery.

"Everyone… I have something important to tell you." With the others keeping their full attention on him, Thomas began to tell them about Hiro and about how he had agreed to help him. Once he was finished, he could see that the others were staring in stunned silence and he let out a sigh as he had a feeling they would react this way. "I know… it does sound very hard to believe. But… that's the whole truth. I promised Hiro I'd help him, and that's a promise I don't plan on breaking. Plus, this is a job too big for just Percy and I to do."

As the rest of the team were all left in silence at everything they had just heard, the first of them to finally break it was Emily. "I… I had no idea that was even possible. But…" She fell silent for a few moments before a smile of awe crossed her face. "I guess this sounds a lot more serious than I thought. It's no wonder you wanted to keep it a secret." As Thomas felt a smile of relief cross his face at the fact that the others were listening to what he had to say, Edward showed an expression of concern before turning his attention to Thomas.

"Thomas, if it was really this serious, why didn't you say so from the start? You know we'd always come to help you. Why didn't you just tell us about what was going on?"

Thomas let out a quiet sigh as an expression of guilt crossed his face; even if he felt he was doing so for the right reasons, he didn't enjoy having to keep a secret from Edward, especially since he knew that he should be able to trust him with anything. "I know, Edward… I would have said something from the start, but… I guess I got scared that something would happen to Hiro and it'd be my fault. I was silly and let my own fears about the whole thing get to me, and I thought I could handle this alone. I'm sorry." As Thomas kept his gaze on his adoptive father with that apologetic look in his eyes, Edward simply showed a smile in understanding before giving his reply in that reassuring voice Thomas recognised all too well.

"Thomas… you should know you're not alone. You're never alone. If there was something wrong, we'd be here to help you. I know you're scared that something might happen to Hiro, but we'd never let that happen. We'll always help a fellow engine in need, whether we know them or not. So there's no need for you to worry anymore, my little one. We'll help Hiro together."

As the others blew their whistles in agreement, Thomas simply stared in silence for a few moments before a smile of joy crossed his face at the fact that he had the others' support, and also from hearing Edward call him his 'little one'. Thomas loved hearing Edward say that, as it always made him feel comforted and protected, no matter what troubles came his way. After a few seconds passed, Thomas was finally able to find his voice. "Th-thank you, Dad…" Feeling his smile growing almost immediately, Thomas turned his attention to the others. "Thanks so much, everyone!"

As the others were simply showed matching bright smiles, Toby quickly showed an expression of puzzlement as something didn't make sense to him. "There's something I don't understand, though."

"Yes, Toby?" Thomas eagerly asked, wanting to hear what was up.

"How come you were so afraid that something would happen to Hiro?" Toby then asked, as he was wondering why Thomas had been so afraid to share the truth with them in the first place.

Thomas's smile quickly faded from his face and was replaced with an expression of firmness as he knew the reason for his hesitance. "Because of Spencer." The others were left staring in silence as they began to wonder what he was talking about, something Thomas took notice of right away as he continued. "He stopped me earlier today and wanted to know if I was up to something. So I think he knows that something's going on he doesn't know about. Plus, the place where the summer house is being built is close to Hiro's hiding place and Spencer will be there every day. If Spencer finds out about Hiro, then he'll tell Sir Topham Hatt and Hiro will be…" Thomas's voice quickly trailed into silence as he didn't want to dare finish that sentence. Unfortunately, he already had the group's attention as they were waiting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

"What, Thomas? What do you think will happen to Hiro if Spencer finds out?" Edward gently asked. Thomas turned his glance back and forth to make sure no one was around before looking back at the others to finish his sentence, the last word coming out in a hushed whisper.

"…Scrapped."

The response he got was a resounding gasp of shock from the other engines, and he didn't find it hard to blame them; that was the one word no engine wanted to hear. There was a stunned silence from the group for a few moments before James finally spoke up. "He thinks he can get away with that kind of stunt on our watch, does he?" He then showed a confident smile before continuing. "Well, we can't let that happen, now can we?"

Emily showed a bright smile upon hearing him before giving her reply. "That's right! We'll see about that!"

Gordon showed a frown as he was listening to this before speaking up. "Spencer's not going to get away with this on my watch!"

Thomas showed a smile of excitement listening to what the others had to say; at this rate, he was certain that Hiro would be saved in no time and that Spencer would be stopped in his tracks. Come the next morning, they had a big job ahead of them.


End file.
